I was just diagnoised with a 5 cm cancer mass in the sigmoid colon. CT scan tomorrow. Totally stressed and not impressed with the doctor that did colonoscopy. Any ohio recomendations? I am in Cincinnati. Also can you tell anything about stage of cancer from mass size or symptoms. I feel totally lost and panicked cancer will be everywhere .

Look for cancer treatment centers or major cancer hospitals. I would also recommend looking for a "board certified" colon rectal surgeon vs a general surgeon. They have the extra training for these types of surgeries.

Know that colon cancer is treatable. I am coming up on my 14 anniversary. My signature line tells my story. There has been a lot of advancement in this past decade. It is not the death sentence it once used to be.

Avoid Dr. Google, a lot of information is out dated or just plan wrong. You will find a lot of information and support here. We all understand what you are going through right now. This really is the hardest part. Once you are staged and have a plan of action, you will start to feel like you have some control again

No it is not possible to tell a stage based on tumor size. Good luck tomorrow. Let us know.

I was just diagnoised with a 5 cm cancer mass in the sigmoid colon. CT scan tomorrow. Totally stressed and not impressed with the doctor that did colonoscopy. Any ohio recomendations? I am in Cincinnati. Also can you tell anything about stage of cancer from mass size or symptoms. I feel totally lost and panicked cancer will be everywhere .

thanks for all responses

Sorry you have to go through this. I was diagnosed last June. It looks like the nearest top hospital is the Cleveland Clinic which is 4.5 hours away. Others are Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St Louis and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago. Those are all quite some distance away.

I had a slightly larger tumor in my rectum and was staged at 3B. The size would imply that it's likely at least 3. The letter is more of a function of lymph node involvement (localized spread). The staging for me was done by MRI. We know how you feel as we've been through it and there's a lot of advice and experience on this board once they get the staging and other testing done.

I lived in the greater cinci area for ~12 yrs. Had a friend that was diagnosed with early stage colon cancer in his 20's (~18 yrs ago- he's fine!) and he went to UC medical center; same with another close friend of mine who had throat cancer (again, 15+ yrs ago). Both had great experiences.. UC is a teaching hospital/center and their doctors should all be up on everything new. I personally would stick with them over anyone else/other group in the Cinci area- but see what your primary care doctor thinks and perhaps your GI doctor, even if you have reservations about them.

If I was in your position I would go to UC first and probably also have a second opinion at Ohio state (or even Cleveland clinic) - OSU is not too far really (my surgery was 2 hrs away) and it is a great cancer center. You really want the best surgeon (board certified colorectal surgeon as mentioned) you can find and also be comfortable with and the team approach at the major centers like OSU/UC is great. I suspect UC should be fine though, but if you did go to OSU for surgery, etc. you could still get things like radiation therapy, if needed, locally.

Thank you for all the advise. I made an appointment with Board Cert. colorectal surgeon at UC. I received the pathology report this morning and really dont understand much. It states sigmoid colon mass -invasive, moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma with ulceration. Measuring 0.4 x 0.7 x0.2 cm. Can anyone can explain this report ?

I highly recommend Cleveland Clinic there like top 2 in the US I think. They have a great Colorectal Cancer Team. I am actually going to Cleveland Clinic in Weston, FL who has a top Colerectal team and great Cancer oncologists.

I’m so sorry to hear about your diagnosis. We are in Cincinnati and have been supporting a close family member in her stage IV CRC journey for several years. One oncologist you may want to consider is Dr. Lemming with Christ. I also strongly recommend that you seek a second opinion with an expert at an NCI-accredited cancer center. There are none in Cincinnati, but close options are OSU James Cancer Center and Cleveland Clinic. If you have the means to travel further for a second opinion, consider MSKCC, Dana Farber, Johns Hopkins or Georgetown. There are many others, but these are some options within a reasonable distance. Best of luck, I will be thinking of you.-kct

I was just diagnoised with a 5 cm cancer mass in the sigmoid colon. CT scan tomorrow. Totally stressed and not impressed with the doctor that did colonoscopy. Any ohio recomendations? I am in Cincinnati. Also can you tell anything about stage of cancer from mass size or symptoms. I feel totally lost and panicked cancer will be everywhere .

thanks for all responses

Sorry you have to go through this. I was diagnosed last June. It looks like the nearest top hospital is the Cleveland Clinic which is 4.5 hours away. Others are Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St Louis and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago. Those are all quite some distance away.

I had a slightly larger tumor in my rectum and was staged at 3B. The size would imply that it's likely at least 3. The letter is more of a function of lymph node involvement (localized spread). The staging for me was done by MRI. We know how you feel as we've been through it and there's a lot of advice and experience on this board once they get the staging and other testing done.